Writing device.



No. 878,080. PATENTED FEB. 4, 1908.

W. G. MASSEY. WRITING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. 1905.

UNITE ST FFICE.

WILLIAM G. MASSEY, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

WRITING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Feb. 4, 1908.

Application filed February 23, 1905- Serial No. 247.037.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. MAssEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, have invented new and useful Improvements in I/Vriting Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a writing device which is, in effect, a portable writing desk susceptible of convenient use wherever an ordinary notebook may be employed, as well as under conditions prohibitory of the use of a notebook.

Hitherto writing devices, intended to take the place of a notebook, have failed to satisfy the demand because they have been not only too bulky and unwieldy, but also complicated in structure and operation, and, consequently, expensive both to manufacture and to keep in repair. They are, in like manner, open to the serious objection which applies to the use of notebooks in stenographic or similar work, namely, that they provide, in themselves, no means for supporting the arm of the writer, and may, therefore, be used to advantage only when some stable support, such as an ordinary desk, is available.

By my invention, I provide a compact, cheap, and handy device, light in weight, simple in construction, and convenient in use, which has embodied in it suitable means for supporting the arm in the act of writing; which, in service, may be readily supported upon the body of the writer exclusively; and which, for convenience of portability, may be folded to dimensions corresponding to those of an ordinary book.

In the accompanying drawing, which constitutes a part of this application, Figure I is a perspective view of a present preferred form of embodiment of my invention, showing its parts dis osed in positions ready for service. Fig. I is a central longitudinal section of the subject matter of Fig. I, showing in full lines the extension member out of serv ice within the assembling member, and in dotted lines, the said extension member in two positions, namely, partly open and fully open, intended particularly to illustrate the action of the preferred form of hinges by which the extension member is united to the body part. Fig. III is a bottom plan view of the subject matter of Fig. II as shown there in in full lines.

Referring to the numerals on the drawing, 1 indicates the desk-like body part of my .may dictate.

device, which is representative of any suitable or preferred means for presenting writ-- ing paper, ready for use, to the hand of a writer.

In the form of embodiment of my invention illustrated, which is the form at present preferred by me, the body part 1 is a desk like member in respect to its being rovided with a flat or table top 3. comprises, besides the table 3, side-pieces 4, and end-piece 5, a bottom-plate 6, which extends from one side-piece 4 to the other, but is preferably, for reasons which will hereinafter appear, not co-extensive with the table 3. The dimensions of the body part 1, being those to which the entire device .is reducible, should. be conformable tothose which convenience of portability and use In effect, the table 3 is preferably an oblong structure of any preferred dimensions, and is, in the simplest possible form of its embodiment, rendered available for the purpose for which it is intended by an extension 7 which, in practice, contributes to the means for presenting and steadily supporting the table 3 in position for service, being to that end provided on one side with a hollowed out portion 8, which conforms to the body of the wearer and contributes to the support of the table in the required position on one side of the body when in service. As a means of supporting the table upon the wearer, I prefer to employ a hook 10 upon the extension 7, adapted to hook over a belt, or the like, upon the body of the wearer, and a strap 11 at the free end of the body part 1, which is adapted to be secured to the shoulder or around the neck of the wearer, as preference and convenience may dictate.

It will be seen from a consideration of the parts as above specified and as illustrated in Fig. I that the elements as described, without further additions, constitute a device adapted for the performance of the broad function required of my invention, as hereinbefore set forth. I prefer, however, for convenience of )ortability, to add a number of features as ollows. I prefer to hinge theextension 7 to the body part 1 so that the former may be folded back into the latter, as shown in Fig. III, the bottom late 6 terminating a sufficient distance from the rear end of the body art to permit such disposition of the extension within the body part. To this end, I prefer to pro- The boy part 1- in Fig. II.

ed, as indicated at 17, to one side wall of the body part 1, and, as indicated at 18, to one of the side walls 19 of the extension 7. Two hinges 16 are preferably employed, which cooperate, by reason of their resiliency and their pivotal connections with their respec tive members 1 and 7, to clamp the members 5 and 15 together, but which yield to permit the turning of the one member upon the other for closing them into the position shown in Fig. III. A tongue 20 is preferably provided upon one of the last named members, which rojects into a recess 20 provided in the ot er. In the drawing, the tongue 20 is shown as fixed to the body part and entering a recess in the extension, but this is a mere detail of construction.

In addition to the folding extension, I prefer to provide a movable arm 21 working into and out of said extension and affording, in efiect, a continuation of the hollowed-out portion 8. In service, it is drawn out to rest against the body of the wearer, but when the device is folded up, as shown in Fig. III, it is driven back into the body of the extension 7 where it may rest safely and out of the way when not required for use.

The body part 1 is desk-like and so far serviceable in the capacity in which it is designed to be used in accordance with my invention, as affording a firm support for the hand for writing. I prefer, however, to provide a special means for keeping it supplied with writing paper ready for use. means referred to consist, preferably, of a drawer 22, which fits into the inclosed body part, and slips into the open end thereof, as

clearly shown in Fig. II. The drawer 22 is preferably provided with a top 23 and ends 24 and 24, but no bottom, the bottom being omitted to afford convenience of access to each of a pair of rollers 25 and 26, mounted in suitable bearings in the opposite sides of the drawer.

The rollers are adapted to carry a continuous roll of paper 27, which in passing from one roller to the other is directed through crevices 29 and 30in the top 23 of the drawer,

upon the upper surface of which it is, in consequence of being drawn taut across it from one crevice to the other, presented in a smooth sheet.

The table 3 of the body art 1 is provided with an aperture 31 whiclrl is substantially co-extensive and conformable in shape with the section of paper which is presented on The.

top 23 of the drawer 22, as just described. By the means specified, a portion of the top 23 of the drawer is made to supply the absence of the table 3 where it is cut away to form the a erture 31, and is thereby constituted, in e 'ect, apart of the table 3 when the drawer 22 is assembled with the body part.

The means described affords a convenient means of carrying paper ready for use, which,

although a continuous roll, is subdivided into separate pages by and corresponding in size to the aperture 31.

In practice, as often as the page or paper presented through-the aperture 31 is filled by the writer, he slips the drawer 22 out and turns a roll 25 or 26,- as occasion may require, to advance the paper a sufficient distance to present a blank sheet through the aperture 31, when the drawer is slipped back into place.

operative device in its simplest form, and

nothing more.

What I claim is:

1. In a portable writing device, the combination with a table, of means for suspending the table from the body of a wearer in operative position for service, and means consisting of a table extension, movably interposed between the table and the body of the wearer, for steadily supporting and presenting the table in operative position.

2. In a portable writing device, the combination with a table, of means for suspending the table from the body of a wearer in operative position for service, a table extension, and clip hinges operative to yieldingly hold the extension and table together,

1slublstantially as and for the purpose speci- 3. In a portable writing device, the combination with a hollow body partcomprising a writing table, of a table extension hinged to the body part and adapted to fold into the body part, and means for suspending the device from the body of a writer.

4. In a portable writing device, the combinationwith a table, of means for suspendut am content herein toing it from the body ofa writer, means provided with a curved recess adapted to fit the body of the wearer and interposed between the same and the table for steadily supporting and presenting it in position, and a movable arm adapted to constitute a continuation of the said recess, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. In a portable writing device, the com bination with a table, of means for suspending it from the body of a writer, means provided with a curved recess adapted to fit the body of the wearer and interposed between the same and the table for steadily supporting' and presenting it in position, and an endwise movable arm adapted to constitute a continuation of the said recess, substantially as and for the purpose specified;

6. In a portable writing device, the combination with a table, of a removable papercarrying drawer in said table, said drawer being provided with means adapted to present the paper in operative position for service.

In testimony whereof, I a'HiX my signature I in presence of two witnesses.

l/VILLIAM O. MASSEY.

Witnesses:

W. H. UNDERWOOD, W'M. W. BAGLEY. 

